catchoftheday Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 i cant believe we are the world champs .... sorry it just crossed my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miami15 Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 i hate this whole thing about the railroad. shut it down already the number of trains passing by there equals the tigers playoff chances: ZERO Are the problem trains that stuff just west of the arena on 1st Ave, or the metrorail? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BasesLoadedWalk Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 It's a pretty good idea if it happens and certainly better than the OB option. In any case, the Marlins don't have a lot of options. It would be interesting to see how Sopher renovates Miami Arena. It's still a functional facility and the space could be creatively utilized. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnylons Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 I would love to see, if this is possible, Sopher develop the Miami Arena into some sort of premiere shopping center with restaurants, theatres, condo's(?) along the lines of Sunset place. Then, on the other side of the tracks (the Metrorail), a brand spanking new stadium for the Marlins (with a retractable roof, of course). This could help spark business downtown. Maybe even see more developers start putting money back in downtown. And oh, the Manatees playing at the MA could move to AAA (could be an extra way to make money...?). This could be a really exciting move for all involved. Plus, the operating costs for the MA evaporating could be spent elsewhere. More money = more opportunity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnylons Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 When I first started talking about this site three months ago it was purely speculation but as things progressed and Sopher seems close to buying the Arena (thus freeing up the parking lot sites) and a deadline looming, it became obvious it is THE SITE. I can't speak about my sources and I can't promise that this is the eventual site for the Fish, there's mega politics at play here, but I can tell you it's definitely under consideration. The dismal performance of the CRA is a big part of it, siting the Marlins here and dumping the Arena solves a whole lot of problems in the city. I hope this is an option being seriously explored... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mike Mordecai Experien Posted March 2, 2004 Author Share Posted March 2, 2004 I would love to see, if this is possible, Sopher develop the Miami Arena into some sort of premiere shopping center with restaurants, theatres, condo's(?) along the lines of Sunset place. Then, on the other side of the tracks (the Metrorail), a brand spanking new stadium for the Marlins (with a retractable roof, of course). This could help spark business downtown. Maybe even see more developers start putting money back in downtown. And oh, the Manatees playing at the MA could move to AAA (could be an extra way to make money...?). This could be a really exciting move for all involved. Plus, the operating costs for the MA evaporating could be spent elsewhere. More money = more opportunity. I'd love to see that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izzie Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 i cant believe we are the world champs ... nah uh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beinfest4Prez Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 i cant believe we are the world champs ... nah uh We are???? And all this time I thought the Carolina Mudcats were world champions... :banghead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mave Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 how would you guys rate the area Miami Arena is in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beinfest4Prez Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 how would you guys rate the area Miami Arena is in? Good unless you wonder west toward the highway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlins2003 Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 Okay, step one is done. The City of Miami has agreed to sell the Miami Arena to Hank Sopher for $25 million, thus freeing up $$$ to either do the OB combo idea or more likely, build a new baseball only in the Arena area (but not on the Arena site). Things are moving. March 15 is looking good !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaq-Man Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 how would you guys rate the area Miami Arena is in? Good unless you wonder west toward the highway.eh, the east and the north and the south aren't so good either. i usually check to make sure my doors are locked when i'm driving thru overtown, which is pretty often since i live a few blocks away. :glare : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beinfest4Prez Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 Okay, step one is done. The City of Miami has agreed to sell the Miami Arena to Hank Sopher for $25 million, thus freeing up $$$ to either do the OB combo idea or more likely, build a new baseball only in the Arena area (but not on the Arena site). Things are moving. March 15 is looking good !!!! Good, I like this better and better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PBMarlin Posted March 3, 2004 Share Posted March 3, 2004 From NBC6.net link Confirms Marlins2003 report. City of Miami, Businessman Move Toward Deal On Arena Officials Hope Facility Will Be Site Of New Marlins Stadium POSTED: 7:34 pm EST March 2, 2004 UPDATED: 7:37 pm EST March 2, 2004 MIAMI -- The city of Miami is poised to swing a deal to sell the old Miami Arena in hopes it can correct a costly mistake from the past and help find a site for a new stadium for the Florida Marlins. Parking lot mogul Jacob ?Hank? Sopher is offering the city $25 million for the facility, and by a 6-4 vote this afternoon, city commissioners preliminarily approved the deal. The deal could be a boon for the cash-strapped city and expensive arena because the city would no longer have to repair the facility or pay debt service on it. But while some city commissioners are eager to make the deal, some sport authorities call it a shotgun wedding pitched with no notice. Sopher, who was not available for comment, last week denied his interest in the arena property has anything to do with baseball, saying he would build a high-end shopping center there. He dismissed the idea of having the Marlins as partners in any venture involving the arena, saying the team didn't have the money to participate. Sopher will get the arena unless appraisals show the offer is too low or if the city gets a better offer in 30 days. The team hopes to have a stadium deal in place by March 15, and says the facility can be built for $325 million, not including land. Miami city officials have said they would only provide land if the team builds on the Orange Bowl grounds. Another plan for a stadium west of the Biscayne Boulevard has not gotten support from the city or the Marlins. Late in the day Monday, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz submitted a change to the meeting agenda for the entity that runs the arena, the Miami Sports & Exhibition Authority (MSEA). Last week, he canceled the board's regularly scheduled meeting and asked it to reconvene today. The final item on the revised agenda: ``Discussion of selling the arena.'' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnylons Posted March 3, 2004 Share Posted March 3, 2004 I am not sure what this means for the Marlins - yet. But I tell you, buying the Miami Arena for $25M is quite a steal. Smells fishy...pun intended... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FutureGM Posted March 3, 2004 Share Posted March 3, 2004 I am not sure what this means for the Marlins - yet. But I tell you, buying the Miami Arena for $25M is quite a steal. Smells fishy...pun intended... The city's virtually broke, they need the cash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlins2003 Posted March 3, 2004 Share Posted March 3, 2004 Think of it this way - You want to buy a new car but you still owe $5,500 on that old clinker behind your house, you know, the one up on blocks with no radiator. Just when the local dealership is ending their big sale a guy comes by and says "hey, I'm a movie producer and I need that fine car you got over there to drive off a cliff in the finale of my movie. Can't pay more than six grand for it but I'm willing to pay you residuals everytime that movie is on TV. Got a deal?" Well that's what Miami get's out of this. They get rid of a white elephant that is bleeding them dry and would for the next 14 years, they get a chunk of dough AND with the estimated $50 -100,000,000 Sopher will put into the project to develop his dream mall, you have a taxpaying cash cow for years to come. Manny Diaz ought to thank his lucky stars Hank Sopher got sick of the cold weather in NYC because he just got re-elected mayor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarHeel324 Posted March 3, 2004 Share Posted March 3, 2004 how would you guys rate the area Miami Arena is in? not the best place to be alone but after a sporting event (like past heat games) its just fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobucks Posted March 3, 2004 Share Posted March 3, 2004 I think the "high end mall" talk is a farce. What high end retail establishment would ever want to be in that location? That is ridiculous! Sopher is a parking guy, he is going to build a parking structure there and they do not want to announce it til after the future of the western lots is resolved (stadium?). The parking structure will have "retail" on the first floor like you see all over Miami Beach. When you think about it, this makes alot of sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnylons Posted March 3, 2004 Share Posted March 3, 2004 I think the "high end mall" talk is a farce. What high end retail establishment would ever want to be in that location? That is ridiculous! Sopher is a parking guy, he is going to build a parking structure there and they do not want to announce it til after the future of the western lots is resolved (stadium?). The parking structure will have "retail" on the first floor like you see all over Miami Beach. When you think about it, this makes alot of sense. You're right. Probably. But that would mean a new Marlins' stadium. Seems like building the ark - before the rain, of course... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BasesLoadedWalk Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 I don't know what to think after coming across this: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/8148637.htm Posted on Wed, Mar. 10, 2004 DOWNTOWN MIAMI Arena sale was always key to building new stadium Since last year, Miami-Dade County and Miami officials have been counting on proceeds from the sale of the Miami Arena to help fund a Florida Marlins stadium. BY KARL ROSS [email protected] A plan to sell the Miami Arena, authorized quickly last week by the city sports authority at the urging of Mayor Manny Diaz, was actually hatched last year to help the Florida Marlins build a stadium in downtown Miami, government officials acknowledged Tuesday. The Herald learned Tuesday that Miami-Dade's pledge of $73 million in tourist tax money to help build the stadium hinges on the arena's sale -- a fact several county commissioners said they were unaware of when they approved the funds on Nov. 5. SURPRISED Some members of the Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority (MSEA) also said they were surprised -- and dismayed -- to learn that arena proceeds had already been included in the county commitment to the Marlins. When Miami leaders last week explained their proposal to sell the arena to parking magnate Jacob ''Hank'' Sopher, they indicted that the sale could yield $60 million, maybe more. That includes $25 million in immediate proceeds and tens of millions more in bond money guaranteed by the tourist tax revenues that would become available when the county no longer had to pay off the arena's cost. But county and city officials acknowledged to The Herald Tuesday that only the $25 million would be new funding toward the stadium's estimated $325 million price tag. An additional $35 million is already included in the $73 million county commitment made in November. City and county officials defended their handling of the sale, saying they needed to keep the matter under wraps so as not to upset negotiations. County Manager George Burgess said Tuesday the lan guage used in the November funding resolution was ''cryptic'' but denied he intended to keep commissioners in the dark. He said the purpose was to facilitate land acquisition surrounding the arena. ''You have to be kind of discreet about it because you don't want speculators jacking prices up all over the place,'' Burgess said. CLEAR TO SOME Burgess said anybody familiar with the intricacies of tourism taxes would have been able to see the county's pledge required the sale of the arena. It was not so obvious to Richard Berkowitz, MSEA's financial consultant. He made a presentation to board members about the tax money at last week's meeting, telling them $68 million in new funds could be leveraged from the sale by 2020. Berkowitz said nobody told him about the county's interest in the sale. He said he assumed all the proceeds would be available, free and clear. `NEW WRINKLE' ''This only happened in the last 30 days,'' he said. ``How could they have anticipated that the arena would be sold and the bonds paid off? This is a new wrinkle.'' Diaz said his motivation for promoting the arena sale had little to do with baseball. ''I wasn't pushing a Marlins deal,'' Diaz said. ``This is what makes business sense for MSEA. This is what makes business sense for the arena. Period.'' Diaz said that whether the proceeds were spent on a baseball stadium, fixing up the city-owned Orange Bowl or anything else was a secondary concern. He added the sale's critics have a ``personal agenda that has nothing to do with me.'' But the disclosure angered sports authority board member Maritza Guti?rrez, who voted against it. ''We've been deceived,'' she said. ``This is something that was brokered behind closed doors months and months ago. But I guess that's business as usual in the city of Miami.'' County Commissioner Rebeca Sosa was also surprised that the arena was part of the county commitment. ''No one has ever talked about that to me,'' said Sosa, who co-sponsored the Marlins funding resolution. ``I feel that if that is the case, every commissioner should have been informed.'' NO HINT Tomas Regalado, a Miami city commissioner and MSEA's vice chairman, said Diaz and other city officials never hinted the county's pledge was tied to the arena sale. ''It's very dangerous when the government withholds information from the people and raises false hopes,'' he said. ``Nobody has come clean, not the county, not the city.'' Regaldo said he would talk to city legal advisors about the possibility of convening a new MSEA board meeting to reconsider the contract. The contract, while tentatively approved March 3, has not yet been signed. Marlins team officials declined to comment Tuesday. Herald staff writer Barry Jackson contributed to this report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlins2003 Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 What Burgess giveth with one hand he takes with the other. The Marlins are not the only constituents in the fight for these tax $$$. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotcorner Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 this probably isn't helping... let's see if I'm reading this correctly.... the county would pledge $25 million from the sale of the arena. but as far as this money: That includes ... tens of millions more in bond money guaranteed by the tourist tax revenues that would become available when the county no longer had to pay off the arena's cost. they have already included $35 million of this in the county's original $73 million pledge back in November?? so they pledged $35 million banking on the sale of an Arena which may or may not have happened? i suppose there's nothing wrong with that in itself, money is allocated this way all the time, but it doesn't look good to the public when the county's sneaking around like this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NirvanaNole Posted March 11, 2004 Share Posted March 11, 2004 Marlins2003, Thanks for the break down. As one of the few Marlins fans that doesn't live in South Florida, I have no idea about the specifics regarding property the Marlins could use to build a stadium. That is better than any newspaper article I have read discussing potential stadium sites. But what type of stadium would be built? Does it have enough room there (I'm not familiar with the area) to build a large, pitcher's park like Pro Player? Or will we have to build a small, hitter's park? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreshFish Posted March 11, 2004 Share Posted March 11, 2004 time is running out, 81 hours to go till deadline. . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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